Laurindo Almeida's palette of stylistic and emotional expression was wide ranging and these early Brazilliance albums with Bud Shank helped establish the bossa nova style in the States several years before the craze hit.

'Brazilliance' and 'Brazilliance Volume. 2' draw upon the distinctly unique sound of Brazilian music and jazz that these two great artists created together. Tracks such as 'Atabaque' and 'Inquietacao' clearly indicate the music is primarily Latin in concept but Bud's alto, light but intense blows a jazz breath back into the proceedings.

This musical hybrid combined these two genres on a more artful basis than was ever obtained before or since. A wonderful and heartfelt respect runs deep through this superb collection and the admiration these two artists had for each other really shines through on every track.